The Storyteller
by PrincessIzy
Summary: "Your Jack Frost costume is really good" She looked at him. His eyebrows almost touched his hairline, "You can see me?" He asked, stepping forwards excitedly. She laughed half-heartedly, as if it was a joke she'd heard a thousand times, "Well, I do believe in Jack Frost" She said sarcastically. It's not like she wrote a book about him or anything...
1. Chapter 1

The sound of car engines cut through the silence as jack stood atop the large council building, looking down at the snow laden ground below and admiring his work. He loved coming in the early morning, than watching kids expressions when they wake up to find it's snowing outside. Everyone loves a snow day. There was some honking a distance away that kept distracting him. "Can they keep it down?" He looked in the direction of the noise to see that a few streets over, there was a traffic jam. "What's going on?" He asked himself as he leapt effortlessly across the street, and over to the two lane road that had cars piled up as far as he could see on either end. "Is the circus in town or something?" He wondered hopefully. He loved watching the elephants, and the little dogs that could ride a unicycle, but he hadn't seen anything about it while he laid the snow down. The traffic seemed to be leading one way, so he followed it.

Jack guessed it was bumper to bumper for about five hundred meters. "What the-"He noticed that there was now a line of people who had camped out, how had he not seen this? The line led to a shop- a book shop called 'Paper Heroes'. He raised an eyebrow, "Why would people camp out for a book?" He looked at the signs in the window, there were posters of cartoon girl, dressed in yellow from head to toe. The title underneath the girl said, 'Summer Day: The Frozen Town'. He almost scoffed, "what is this garbage?" He noticed some of the campers were starting to wake up now. He would wait to see what the hell this crap was, and miss seeing kids happy faces because of the snow. Instead he saw annoyed faces, freezing cold kids, mainly girls around nine to fifteen years old. "Could it not snow right now?" He heard one muffled voice whine from under a pink sleeping bag. "It's just Jack Frost, ruining things as always…" another muffled voice said from the sleeping bag beside her. He whipped his head in their direction, "Ruining things as always?" Confused and agitated, he folded his arms and waited for the shop to open.

It opened at eight A.M, and then the doors were opened and people flooded through. He noticed it wasn't set up like regular book stores- not that he had been in many. There was a stage, with an empty desk and chair, where people kept looking excitedly. They bought their books, then started lining up in front of the small stage.

By nine o'clock, the place was packed, so he sat on top of a bookshelf, where he could see the stage clearly. Obviously there was something going on. The door behind the stage opened and a young girl walked up, she was blonde, with a face he thought he had seen somewhere else, but he had seen a lot of faces before. The people lined up were cheering loudly, but they piped down as she held the microphone to her mouth, "Hi, I'm Rosie O'Donnell" She looked into the crowd nervously. Jack looked at the poster and sighed in understanding, "the author" He rolled his eyes.

She signed books for the entire day, while Jack was outside enjoying the snow, piling it on so it was hard for the people in the store to leave. He threw snowballs at Jamie's window, but since he started community college, he never liked to mess around. Jack sometimes wondered if he even saw him anymore, but pushed the thought aside- _of course he can see me, he's Jamie!_ \- Jack thought to himself as he leapt back to the bookstore, silently eager to see _Rosie O'Donnell_ tired and exhausted. Whenever he thought or said her name, he'd say it in a stupid voice. 'Jack Frost, ruining things as always' the voice echoed in his head as he kicked at the snow. What had she been writing about him?

The shop was almost empty now, and the line was getting pretty short. "And what's your name?" She asked the last young girl standing in front of her, "Lia" The girl answered.  
"Lia? You know, I wrote about a Lia..." She smiled. She didn't seem exhausted at all, to Jacks disappointment. As the girl left, he realised there was no one left in the line, but she was still sitting there, waiting. After a while, she sighed and stood up. "Your Jack Frost costume is really good" She looked at him. His eyebrows almost touched his hairline, "You can see me?" He asked, stepping forwards excitedly. She laughed half-heartedly, as if it was a joke she'd heard a thousand times, "Well, I do believe in Jack Frost" She said sarcastically. But it wasn't sarcastic, he realised, because she could see him. "What do you write about me?" He asked, watching her as she picked up her handbag. "Oh, well, just that time when you froze all the crops on Summer's farm" Jack felt anger boiling inside him, "And that time you caused a nationwide blizzard so that no one could enjoy their summer holiday" She was remembering them like they were memories, not stories. Was that how people thought of him, if they thought about him at all? "Why does he have to be so mean?" He folded his arms defensively, "Because he's Jack Frost!" She said as if that was the answer itself, then sighed, "Imagine if you couldn't be seen by anyone, no one even knew you were there…" a frown planted itself on her forehead, "and the only thing you could do was make it cold. Wouldn't that make you bitter?" He hated her answer, it felt like being punched in the stomach.  
"Maybe you should give him some credit, okay. What's wrong with making everything cold? People love snow- _Kids_ love snow!" He argued. She pursed her lips, mulling it over,  
"I guess you're right, but still, no one could survive that long without being seen, well at least not mentally. He'd be so…" She thought of the word, "Broken".

She had left after that, leaving Jack to think about her words. For the first time, he started feeling something vanishing, everything falling apart, melting. It felt like Band-Aids falling off because they've been on for so long.

He felt Broken.


	2. Chapter 2

It had been three weeks since he gave his home town, Burgess, a good snow-day, so Jack rode the wind, filling the streets with an exceptional foot of white snow. He let himself fall onto the soft white pillow of snow in the middle of the empty street. It was the quietest time of the night, three o'clock. "If I could fall asleep, I'd do it here" He said, filling his hood with snow to act like a pillow. After a while, the falling snow created a blanket on him, covering him so that the only thing of him that was visible was his icy hands.

He could hear footsteps to his right, two sets, by the sounds of it. He didn't take too much notice until they stopped, not faded, but stopped. "Can I walk you home?" he heard, followed by a woman's voice, "No, thank you" he recognised the woman's voice, but couldn't put a face to it. Maybe he was just getting old. He was three hundred, after all. The footsteps started again, this time faster, "Well how about you come back to my place, we could have a real nice time". Jack wasn't really fast when it came to social situations- the only people he spoke to were the guardians, but he knew that this guy was creepy. "No" She said simply, walking even faster. The two footsteps continued, getting faster as they walked away. Jack sat up, then turned his head in the direction of the two voices, he sighed, times had changed, and he barely understood anything these days. "Back in my day," He laughed, "A guy like that would probably turn out to be a criminal" He shrugged, figuring it was just the way people talked to each other now-a-days.

His thoughts were proved wrong by a loud "Get off me!" Jack leapt towards the voices. The man who belonged to the voice was hunched over, covering his nose. "You bitch!" He yelled, lowering his hands to reveal a bloody nose. He remembered the voice, it was someone he knew a long time ago, Sophie Bennet. She was now a young woman- who knew how to punch. The man stood up straight, about a little taller than her, but before he could do anything, a hard, stiff snowball hit him in the back of the head, knocking him out. Sophie looked around for the thrower, but couldn't see anyone.

She couldn't see him. He sighed, that was great. Just great. Sophie Bennet couldn't see him, and she used to see him right until the age of ten. Jamie used to tell her stories, but he moved out a few years ago, so he guessed she forgot.

Sophie had changed, she was tall now, almost six foot tall. She had a septum piercing, as well as snake bite piercings, and a metal spike collar. She wore all black, black jeans ripped s badly they hung in flaps past her knees, black midriff shirt showing her belly piercing and black leather jacket. He didn't know what to think about her new look. She was just so different. She didn't stick around long, and she kept walking really fast, as if nothing happened. Worried, Jack followed her home, assuming she'd go straight back to the family home that he spent a lot of time making sure was under a foot of snow at least once a month. But she didn't, instead, she walked to an apartment block. Confused, he did the math in his head, "she was two…" He started, by the end the figured that she must be about thirteen. She was way too young to move out, and way too young to be out by herself. He walked behind her protectively, making sure that if someone even looked at her funny, he would bring a snowball down on them so hard-

She had stopped out the front of an apartment building, and pressed the buzzer. There was a yawn at the other end, then a woman's voice, "Hello?" She said sleepily.  
"It's me" Sophie answered. There was a short silence,  
"It's three A.M" Was the reply,  
"It's snowing" Sophie was chattering.  
There was a buzzing noise, followed by, "It's open".

She walked three flights up the poorly lit stairwell before she came to a door with a young woman in her dressing gown standing in the doorway. "Where were you?" the woman asked. Sophie shrugged and walked straight past her, "Can I crash?" She asked, walking into the guest room without an answer, "Do I have a choice?"

Jack started to turn away, satisfied that at least she was safe for the night, he wondered if Jamie knew about her new look. "Thanks" the woman in the doorway called to him. He paused, then turned around, coming into the light. It was Rosie O'Donnell, the writer, "No problem" He shrugged. She recognised him and gave him a polite smile. "She's an- old friend" He added. Rosie looked back at the closed guest room door, "you a friend of Jamie's then?" She asked, interrogating to find answers about where she was. "Yeah, when he was a kid" he answered, leaning awkwardly against a stair railing. She frowned at him, realising he hadn't changed out of his 'Jack Frost' costume. He didn't wear any shoes, and his pants were tattered and frayed at the bottom. She wondered if this was his only outfit. "How do you know Sophie?" He asked, feeling a little uncomfortable. This was the first time in over three hundred years he had spoken to someone that wasn't a guardian and wasn't a child. "She's my sister- step sister" She corrected. He raised an eyebrow, he hadn't even noticed Mrs Bennet remarried, in fact, he didn't know if he had ever seen Mrs Bennet, just heard her voice. "What's your name?" She asked, all traces of negativity gone, she started to think he was just a huge fan of Jack Frost, "Jack" He half smiled, as if she should have known that.  
"Of course" She nodded, "You like Jack Frost because you have the same name" She realised. Jack frowned, but didn't correct her. "It's late" She said, looking up at the clock on the wall, then back at Jack in his tattered pants and bare feet. "You can sleep on the couch if you want" She offered, "The guest rooms taken" She laughed, "but the couch is comfy". He didn't know what to say, he'd never been offered to stay somewhere before, it was strange. He didn't sleep, so he'd just be lying there. "Yeah, sure" He said, realising he'd never been a guest in a normal persons home. She moved out of the door way to let him in, and he followed cautiously. "I'll get you a pillow and a blanket" She walked into a room, leaving him to sit down on the black couch. It was cold in here, even he could tell. He didn't mind, obviously, he was the _spirit_ of freaking winter.

She returned with a large fluffy blue pillow and a grey fleece blanket. "Here" She gave him the blankets and smiled down at him, "There's only a few hours left, but I'm gonna try and get some sleep" She said, then wished him goodnight and went into what he guessed was her bedroom.

He lay on the couch, three hours to go before the sun comes up. It was comfortable, there was something about this… something soothing. He tucked his head between the pillow and the couch it was so _human_ and _normal_. But he couldn't fall asleep, so he was wrapped in thoughts.

Will I ever have friends? He had Jamie and those kids, but they were just kids, and it was hard to have fun when they have to be home by four thirty. He also figured he'd never have a girlfriend, there was always tooth fairy, but he thought she only liked him for his teeth. He'd never grow up, as well- which was sort of a blessing. He had luckily become immortal at a point of life where he was getting over puberty, but he wasn't anywhere near looking like an adult, barely a young adult. He thought he could pass for eighteen, but that was pushing it.

He had always heard that people have every thought possible while trying to fall asleep, and finally he understood that.


	3. Chapter 3

When he heard movement from Rosie's room, he turned to the side and closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep. Rosie was in the kitchen a minute later, making cereal sleepily. The door to the guest room burst open, and Sophie walked out, still in the same clothes from the night before. "So are you going to tell me where you were?" Rosie asked, putting the bowl on the table to lure her into sitting down. Jack was pretending to be asleep, there was a strange fear rising in him- _maybe she couldn't see him anymore_. Sophie didn't sit down, "I was at a party" She folded her arms, "Why are you so against fun?" She screeched, watching her step-sisters disapproving face.  
"I'm not _against_ fun. I just think you're too young to be having the sort of _fun_ that you wat to have" She answered, suddenly feeling like her mother. "If you had it your way, you'd have me sat down listening to your stupid stories until I'm thirty!" Her voice was getting higher with every sentence, while Rosie remained calm, "I know you want to do these things, but you just can't Nemo!" Sophie tried her best to stay angry, but her step-sister knew her weak spot was cartoon references. "My stories aren't stupid" She said as an afterthought. Sophie let out a half-hearted laugh before leaving, knowing she had to get her stuff from home before school.

"Are you awake?" She called out. Jack sat up and feigned drowsiness,  
"Yeah, just up" He pretended to stretch.  
"Did you hear all of that?" She looked down, as if partly ashamed of herself. He didn't really know what type of 'fun' Sophie wanted to have, but he figured she should be allowed to if she wanted. "I feel so old" She laughed at herself while making another bowl of cereal.  
"Do you eat lucky charms?" She asked. He had seen kids get hyped on sugar before they went into the snow, they were always the funniest. "Uh, no, sorry" He didn't actually eat anything, he wondered what would happen if he did. He knew that bunnymund ate carrots, and North at cookies (lots of them), he never really tried to eat anything before. "That's probably a good thing" She put a spoon in the bowl to finish as Jack stood up, unsure of whether to sit down or leave. "It's just like eating sugar" She placed the bowl on the table, "So what do you want for breakfast? Toast? Cereal? I could put some eggs on" She leaned against the fridge.  
"I'm not really hungry" He looked that the bowl of Lucky charms curiously. She raised an eyebrow at him, looking at how skinny he was. She wondered if he was anorexic, he wasn't _that_ skinny, but you never know. "You should eat something" She put the bowl she had made for Sophie in the sink.  
"My dad used to say the smell of bacon could make someone hungry" She turned to the fridge, pulled out an airtight plastic bag with strips of bacon in it. "Oh, you don't have to-" She waved it off,  
"You brought Sophie home, least I can do".

He had never eaten anything before. He hoped this didn't kill him, but, after three hundred years of not eating- death by bacon would be ironic. "Here" She put a plate of Bacon and eggs in front of him on the glass table. He looked at it nervously, then picked up the knife and fork awkwardly. It really had been a long time…

The crispy bacon was amazing, he had forgotten what it was like to taste something. He had been missing out on bacon for way too long. There was the crunch, the taste. "This is really good" he said through mouthfuls. "Thank god for that" She laughed, eating her soggy Lucky charms, which she apparently liked that way. "Can't let Jack Frost go hungry" She said sarcastically. It wasn't strange to not be believed in. But the fact that she _must_ believe in Jack Frost, but doesn't see what's in front of her, maybe she was just cynical. "No, otherwise he'll freeze the crops" He said mockingly. She rolled her eyes, "Have you even read my books?" She asked. He looked at the empty plate mournfully, then shrugged. He wished he had more bacon. "Here" she slid a book over the glass, "Keep it". He sighed as he picked up the book. He could be outside throwing snowballs at people right now. One look up at Rosie, and he decided to read it.

He left three hours later, having read the entire series, to Rosie's surprise. He could read faster than she'd ever seen anyone read before, at first, she thought he was just skimming through, but after he finished the second one, she tested him, "summer's dog was really happy in that one" She waited for his answer, "Are you kidding me? He was frozen the whole time" Jack answered, halfway through the third one. For some reason, he liked reading about Jack Frost. It wasn't anything like him, but he was a likeable character. He had great one-liners, and made snowmen scare children when adults weren't around.

The snow was melting quickly, and Jack figured he'd move onto another town- he liked a little village in the mountains that was close by, he figured he'd head there for a day or two, but be back to see if Jamie wasn't busy, and to check on Sophie.


	4. Chapter 4

Side note- super short Chapter!

Jamie Bennet was in his last year of community college, and he had decided he would actually do well this year and not just drink his way through. He stuck around mainly to get a job and save up enough money so he could move to New York. Things had gone from bad to worse. He watched his mom remarry a few years ago- to an asshole and his daughter. His little sister had become a brat who wanted to party with high-schoolers. It didn't help that the snow was getting heavier, he could barely drive to work without sliding- which is terrifying.

He leaned back on his chair and ran a hand through his brown hair, there was one thing bugging him the most.  
His step-sister.

When he met her five years ago, she was only thirteen. He had told her stories of Jack Frost and the other Guardians, North, Bunnymund, Toothiana and sandman, she had taken an interest. He didn't know what she would turn it into. Jack Frost, the villain? She had taken a whole new take on Jack Frost, one that wasn't true.

Or at least he didn't think was true. These days Jack stayed in the shadows, never saying hi. He would come past the windows sometimes, but he never came in. He was more of a ghost than a guardian. The title 'winter spirit' kind of fit too well.


	5. Chapter 5

The mountains were nice. People there loved the snow, they even made artificial snow. People would go all the way to the top of the mountain just to ski down. Jack flew through town, touching bringing a fresh pelt of real snow down on the fake stuff, then having a snowball fight with a family there on vacation while they were walking home from dinner. He watched as the two eight year old boys threw snowballs at each other like they were in the military, hiding on different sides of a snow laden bus stop. "This'll be interesting" He said, standing on top of a street light, watching the events unfold. One of them snuck onto the other side and threw a sneak attack, hitting his twin right in the back. "I'll get you back!" He swore for revenge. Jack couldn't help but laugh, but was stopped by a sudden feeling.

His body felt drained. His movements were slack, his body felt lazy. His eyelids felt heavy, had he been poisoned? He sighed and fell into the snow, feeling the familiar cold freeze his face comfortingly and then-

He woke with a start. It was daytime- there were people everywhere. He was on the sidewalk, the dry sidewalk. He stood up frantically, and instantly felt the problem with falling asleep on the sidewalk. His face ached, and there was a red mark on half of his face from lying on the concrete. It was alarmingly hot. He kicked his staff into his hands, and started the snow fall again. Confused, he made sure snow was falling harder than ever to make up for lost time. Before long, he had the whole town throwing snowballs, a few kids were making snowmen- one with a cucumber for its nose instead of a carrot "That's original" He checked it out, making sure that people were having fun. There was a young couple who made a round wall, where they sat, cuddled together drinking out of a thermos. He watched them for a moment, wondering what it would be like to feel so… loved. Being believed in was one thing, but being loved was another.

He tried not to think about the fact that he fell asleep, it was strange enough that he found his stomach gurgling- which it never did _. Is this hunger?_ He wondered. He went back to Burgess, trying to see if Jamie was busy. He looked in his window, but he wasn't there. Music was playing out the back, so he went to see if he was there.

It was a family gathering of some sort. Jamie, Sophie and Rosie sat at an outdoor table with two other people, he guessed that they were Mrs Bennet and Rosie's dad. They were laughing, then they started to notice snow falling. Jack noticed it too, he didn't even mean for that to happen. The parents went inside to put the food away, and Sophie declared she was going to her room. Jack wondered if he could get Jamie's attention. Maybe he could get some food, he put a hand over his stomach.

He watched Jamie go inside, leaving Sophie in the snow that was now getting pretty heavy. He watched as she tilted her head back and the snow fall on her face. Behind him, he heard the window open, which made him jump. "Jack?" The voice was deep, he turned around to see Jamie leaning out the window, watching him curiously. "Hey you uh- wanna have a snowball fight?" He made a snowball. Jamie couldn't help but laugh, "That's what you say? After all this time? No explanation, no… nothing?" Jack was more than confused.  
"It hasn't been that long…" he laughed awkwardly,

"It's been six years" He sighed. Jack looked at his face, it was so much older… he had thought it had only been a few months but now that he thought about it, it was a lot longer than that. "Sorry, I've just been busy" He shrugged.  
"No you haven't- I see you around all the time. You've changed- you haven't been the same person since you became a guardian. It's a job to you" He shook his head, as if he couldn't believe it, "You were my hero, man, and now you're just a sell-out" He closed the window before Jack could say anything. He kicked the snow of the roof in frustration, sending a clump straight onto Rosie's face. She sat up, confused. Then looked up and saw Jack, not noticing that she had been there. "Do you mind?" She yelled up to him. He suddenly remembered that she could see him and started to jump down, "Don't jump!" She yelled, her voice full of worry. He took to notice of her worry and jumped down effortlessly. "Don't ever do that again! That was so dangerous!" She let out a held breath. "Sorry" He said, again. She noticed something was wrong almost immediately.  
"You okay?" she asked.  
He forced a smile and managed a "yeah", but she didn't believe it for one second. His stomach grumbled again, for the fiftieth time. It was getting more painful each time. "How about we go and get something to eat?" She smiled, "Come on, we've still got all that food. My dad cooks everyone three steaks each" She laughed. He didn't understand the joke, but he did understand that her dad and step mom couldn't see him, and if she brought him in asking for food, she'd look crazy. "Don't worry about it, I'm fine, really, I'm fine" He backed away, then turned around and walked through the side gate. "Wait!" She yelled after him, confused.

"I have a new book I'm working on" She said, catching up with him. He was trying to walk as fast as he could away from her, so that he could ride the wind, but she was so damn fast. "What does Jack Frost do this time?" He asks. She walks in front of him,  
"He tells Rosie what's wrong and then they get food" She forces a polite smile though irritated.  
"Sounds like a really boring book" He said, sidestepping her.  
"For a really boring person" She looked daggers into his soul. He sighed, she was very persistent. "We'll get food, but not in there, I'm having a – disagreement with your brother" He looked down. "Everyone does at some point" She laughed, "But you'll make up in no time, he's forgiving like that" She said, starting to walk next to him. "Shouldn't you tell your family where you're going?" He asked, "They're grown-ups, they'll manage" She laughed.

She had ordered pizza so that when they got back to her place it would already be there. "You've never had pizza before?" She asked. He just shrugged his answer. He knew that he was in a bad mood, there was a downright blizzard blowing around them. The wind whipped at Rosie's face harshly, he almost felt bad. "Hey, Jack Frost, you think you could tone it down a little?" She laughed, her hair blowing into her mouth as she did. She was struggling to walk through the snow, it was almost two feet deep.

They finally got to her apartment and Jack had to help her close the door, as soon as she opened it the snow sloshed in. "great" She said sarcastically as they finally closed the door. Up the stairs and into her apartment, she went straight to the kitchen. "They probably won't deliver because of the storm" She looked out the window above the sink. "Why?" He asked, "It's just snow" He sat on the couch, sinking into it like it was a giant marshmallow. " _It's just snow_ " She mimicked, "Hot chocolate?" She asked. He shook his head, not liking anything with the word 'hot' in it. "Tea?" She asked. He nodded his answer and she went on to make two cups of tea. He thought he'd had tea before, when he was human, but he couldn't be sure.

She came back with two mugs and set them down on the coffee table. She had also come with a bag of chips, which she threw to him the second she sat down. "Eat" She took a sip, "And tell me what's wrong" she seemed strangely interested.  
"Nothing's wrong, I'm just a melancholy guy" He shrugged.  
"Melancholy?" She sighed, "Let me guess… Lonely? People only like what you do for them but they never really notice you. You don't have a real home, a real family. Sometimes _you_ don't even feel real, like you're not really there"

Winds so strong they rattle the windows rage outside, snow piled high on the windowsill. The power went out, sending the room into a creepy darkness. "You're observant" He said, pulling his knees under his chin. She felt guilty for saying it, she hadn't really thought it through at all. "Sorry" She muttered, then stood up and pulled a box of matches out of a drawer in the kitchen. "It's getting late" She lit a candle and put it in the corner of the room.

They sat in silence for a while, listening to the storm outside rage on, rattling the windows- which had been covered in frost completely. After a while Jack spoke in a small voice, "You're right" He sighed, closing his eyes, "People don't see me and sometimes I wonder what the point is if no one sees me. It's like I'm not really alive" He looked at his pale hands. _I guess I'm not_ , he thought.

"I see you" She sighed, "Jamie sees you- and don't worry about your 'falling out' with him. If you had one, it means that he cares" She smiled.

The storm outside seemed to lessen. "You know what? I have a spare room, you don't have a home" She shrugged, "Live here"  
"You don't want to live with me" He looked at her, shaking his head.  
"If I didn't, why would I ask you?"


	6. Chapter 6

He slept on a bed for the first time in three hundred years. He sunk into the bed and pulled the quilt over his shoulders. He didn't dream, he didn't even know if that was possible.

Jack didn't really own much, but he was welcomed to his new room with a new pair of pants, and a pair of black sneakers- they were a little too big for him, but he didn't mind. He didn't realise how long it had been since he wore shoes last. He stumbled a little, but the pants fit well. They were black jeans, he wondered how he could move properly in these clothes.

There was so much wrong with this. "I'm Jack Frost" He whispered, "What am I doing?" He looked at the closed door, where the writer was probably waiting patiently on the couch. Obviously this couldn't last. Feeling an overwhelming sense of entrapment, he opened the window, took one look at the room, then out onto the street below. He gulped, "Come on, wind, take me anywhere" He jumped, then felt his body carried through the wind.

The shoes made landing right on top of the Eiffel tower hard. He couldn't grip with his toes, but taking them off made him feel bad. "Let's have some fun" He smiled, then flew straight downwards, almost like falling, but the wind was ready at the bottom to stop him from hitting the ground.

The snow was quite light in Paris, there wasn't really much of it. Enough so that you could have snowball fights, but not so much that it made it hard to drive. He watched as a group of kids threw snowballs at each other playfully. They must have been around Sophie's age, but they dressed nothing like her. They didn't walk like her either. It was night time there, about midnight, he guessed. One girl in a short dress and high heels was lying face down in the snow, she must have fallen asleep. "Woah, wake up there, kid, your missing out on this" He sat on a windowsill on the second storey of an apartment block. Her friends laughed loudly as one of the boys fell over. "Going a bit heavy on the eggnog, there" Jack laughed suspiciously. The boy stood up, then sat down next to his sleeping friend. He watched curiously as the boy slid his hand up the girl's leg. "What are you doing?" He looked as if he was seeing it wrong. As the boys hand slid under the unconscious girls dress, Jack sent a snowball flying at his face. The boy pulled his hand back, and looked around to see which of his friends threw it at him. They were busy throwing balls of sow at each other to notice him. He stood up, not wanting to find out who did throw it, and went back to messing around with his friends.

Jack was in shock. What a creep? "Sophie" He thought aloud. Was this the kind of fun she was having? Was this the kind of danger Rosie was scared about? He looked up at the moon, "This isn't fun! This is dangerous" He frowned, as if he couldn't understand why anyone would ruin the fun. She had been enjoying herself before she passed out.

"Come on, let's get out of here" He heard one of the guys say in French. They left their friend in the snow. "Jerks" He cursed. A sudden yellow light slurred past him, "Sandy" he looked up, searching for his fellow guardian, and sure enough, there he was, on his cloud of yellow sand. Looking back at the girl, her dreams had become to form. It was a girl playing fetch with a dog. Moments later, sandman spotted his friend and came down to greet him. "Hey sandy", he was given a smile and then glanced down at the girl below. With one hand gesture, sandy sent golden sand to pick her up and take her home. "People have gotten really creepy since I was human, you know that?" He looked disgusted. Sandy didn't take notice of what he was saying, he was just staring at his friend curiously.

A sandy figure jack recognised as himself appeared over Sandy's head. He was sleeping, then a question mark formed. "Oh yeah, I can sleep. I didn't know I could do that" He shrugged as if it were no big deal. He knew it was a big deal, he just tried not to think about it as much as possible. "I um… better get going" He didn't want to stay on this topic for too long.

After leaving sandy, Jack found himself back in Burgess, standing on top of the council building, looking out over the town just as he had a few nights ago. He thought about Sophie, and the other night. She was in danger, he hated that. He gripped his staff tight and felt worry wash his mind.

There it was. A shadow that lasted only for a second, but he knew exactly what it was, or rather, who it was. It was fear itself, the boogeyman. Pitch was around. He watched as the shadow floated down the street, like it had a destination in mind. Jack followed it curiously, wondering what he was up to.

He followed him right to a familiar house, it was Jamie's house.

"Jamie" He said, worry setting in. He leapt up to Jamie's window, looking in to see if he was home, but the lights were out. "Jamie" He rapped on the window. Inside, he could see him stirring from his sleep. They locked eyes and the boy got up, instantly worried. "What's up?" he said as he opened the window. "Pitch is here, I don't know what he-" but he didn't get to finish. The window was shut in his face and a shadow covered the glass, covering the inside. "Jamie? Jamie!" He banged on the window, but after a moment, the shadow moved, and Jamie was fine.

But something was wrong. He was almost shaking. "Are you okay?" He asked as he opened the window, though there was no response. "Jamie, talk to me man" He laughed, sitting down on his desk chair. "How did the window open?" He asked, closing it.  
"It was me, sorry, I was worried" He said flatly, not amused. He put a jumper on as he realised how cold it is. "Wait, you- you can see me right?" He asked, fear gripping at his every fibre. Jamie sat on his bed and pulled out a large textbook. "Jamie?" his voice was small.


	7. Chapter 7

It was like being stabbed. The first human to see him now couldn't. He sat on the desk chair in Jamie's room until he fell asleep, Jack even found himself growing tired. He closed the windows on his way out, and put his hood up as he left, noticing the light snowfall was now a blizzard, and it was enough to make even Jack bitter. After walking for ten minutes, he found himself at a familiar apartment block, though he could barely see it under a layer of snow. He hoped that Rosie wasn't out in this storm.

He opened the door, being able to move the snow effortlessly. Up the stairs, and at her door, he paused. What if Pitch had gotten to her too? What if she didn't see him either? He had tried not to get emotionally attached, after all, he had no idea why she could see him, and how long it would last. But standing at her door, he really hoped that she still could.

He opened the door and let himself in, "Rosie?" He called out, waiting nervously for the response. "Yeah?" She called out from her room. He breathed a sigh of overwhelming relief. She opened her bedroom door and looked at him, confused, "Were you out in that storm?" She turned her focus to the window, noticing the storm had all but stopped. "Rosie, I have to tell you something" He had every intention of telling her who he was, so that she would believe in him completely, and never not be able to see him. "Can it wait?" She looked back into her room, to the computer lying on her bed, she looked troubled. "I have all these deadlines and my brain isn't working" She laughed half-heartedly. "What do you mean?" He leaned his staff against the wall.

"I don't know, I've sort of lost hope in my characters" She laughed as if it sounded stupid, "They just don't have enough depth, like they're not real" She looked miserably at the bookcase. Pitch had gotten to her. But she could still see him, which meant that there was still hope. "Believing in something especially when you find it hard is true strength" He recited, not sure where he had heard it before. She half smiled, apparently it was the right thing to say. "My mom told me that, that's who I based Summer off". That's where he had heard it; she wrote it. "I never think like this" She seemed shocked at herself. "Your characters are real to you?" He asked, though he knew the answer. She nodded shyly, knowing how crazy it sounded. But that's why she could see him. He held her shoulders, "I'm Jack Frost" He said confidently.

She stepped away, suddenly agitated, "You're such an asshole" She went back into her room, closing the door with a loud 'thud'. "What did I do?" He was left to ask himself. He leaned against her door, wondering how he could prove it. "Rosie?" He called. There was no reply, instead he heard footsteps behind him. "Hello, Jack" Pitch said eerily.

There was something different about Jack this time they met- he had so much more to lose. "I'd say you've grown since last time we met but- well… You'll be a boy forever" He looked down at him through golden yellow eyes, "But not that friend of yours, no" He looked eagerly to see Jack's reaction. "He's grown quite a bit. He looked much older while I planted seeds of doubt in his head" Jack took a step back, and found himself blocking the door to Rosie's room. "You were on your way to feeling true happiness, Jack. I couldn't let that happen" He stood straight as shadows loomed across the room, outside wind threatened to blow the building down. "Stop. I'm not afraid of you" He yelled, his words true. "No, but you are afraid of so much… I just couldn't help myself. The look on your face when your precious little friend couldn't see you anymore" He chuckled darkly, "Well it was too good to stop there"

Jack opened the door to Rosie's room, then slammed it shut behind him. "Jack?" She called out. She was sitting on her bed, staring at her computer screen without typing. "Rosie, we need to go" He said, standing by her bed. "Come on, pack your things" He was in a panic.

She couldn't see him.

"Oh Jack, you're too late" Pitch said, walking through the door effortlessly.  
"No" He said waving his hands in front of her face. No one could see him now, he was back to the way it was. "The seeds grew slowly, I'll give her that, but no one can fight fear forever" He said, walking around to view his handiwork.

"You're wrong" Jack said, "When it's hard to believe in something, sometimes all you need is proof". Snow started falling in her room, she barely noticed when he spread frost over the window.

He used his finger to write,

I am Jack Frost

She looked up, distracted by the noise of his finger on the glass, while Pitch watched curiously. "What the hell?" She said, noticing the snow. Immediately she threw her laptop under the covers protectively. "I am Jack Frost" She read aloud. She froze, looking around the room, "Jack?" She said breathlessly.

Then he was there, standing by the window with his staff. "No way" She said in disbelief.  
"Way" He smiled. Before he could feel completely relieved, he saw Pitch behind him, smiling wildly. "You think you could tone it down a little" She pointed to the blizzard outside. He closed his eyes and sighed a breath of relief. "Very nice. Sweet, really" Pitch said behind her, "But I'm just getting started" And with that, he vanished.


End file.
